IC2 needs to take a step towards TE, just not so close they're in a relationship. In IC2, if you choose the wrong voltage, machines go boom, wires go zap, players get ticked. In TE, if you opt out of wires, you're engine needs a wack with a wrench in order to make it work again for a short amount of time. If IC2 were to change that explosion to say, you're machines make crazy noises and stop functioning, items spew everywhere from the machine, or even if the wires sizzled for a bit, then broke, it'd be a lot nicer. You wouln't lose progress and resources you've made, but your machines couldn't run on a voltage that wasn't compatible. It's a fucntionality that annoys everyone and is down right silly to implement in such a game like Minecraft.
Having fun breakdown mechanics instead of annoying ones? Now that's just silly!